Hillary's 2008 Campaign Manager Named Director of Harvard's Political School

Hillary Clinton’s former top White House aide and campaign manager for her 2008 presidential bid was named Thursday as the new director of the Institute of Politics (IOP) at Harvard’s Kennedy School.

Maggie Williams, who served as the former First Lady’s chief of staff in the White House and then turned around Clinton’s floundering 2008 presidential campaign, will head up the Institute, to which she has been connected for years. The IOP, established as a living memorial to President John F. Kennedy, is known for its polling of students and political research.

According to the Washington Post, Williams has been among a small circle of confidantes who are helping Clinton weigh a 2016 presidential campaign. She reportedly met Clinton while working at the Children’s Defense Fund in the 1980s and was an advisor to her through the Monica Lewinsky scandal and other crises during her husband’s administration.

Following the suicide of lawyer Vince Foster, Williams was interrogated and accused of removing files from his office.

Williams also served as chief of staff to President Bill Clinton at the Clinton Foundation.

“Maggie’s political wisdom and her long record of mentoring and supporting young leaders–not only in politics but in many career fields–and the example she sets in fostering and sustaining relationships across the political spectrum make her the right leader for the IOP today,” said Ken Duberstein, chair of the IOP Senior Advisory Committee and former chief-of-staff to President Ronald Reagan. “I look forward to working with her to help inspire the next generation of young Americans to answer the call to public service.”